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Masculinity In Macbeth And The Mask You Live In

1300 Words6 Pages

Masculinity has been a heated debated topic over the past years. Not just america or europe, but our whole society. Men tend to think that entering manhood is a good thing, but most don’t know it can be just as detrimental to our society. Men have certain characteristic when it concerns to masculinity and when doing so it can have a range of effects. So, how do men identify themselves masculine and how do they define themselves that way? In Macbeth and The Mask You Live In, the characteristics of masculinity begins with the questioning or threatening of their manhood, which then leads to successive violence, and lastly, the desperate behavior that occurs when ashamed.
In Macbeth, and The Mask You Live In, Shakespeare investigates the connection between a man’s questioning and …show more content…

In Act 1, scene 7 lines 39-44 of Macbeth, after Macbeth denies Lady Macbeth’s scheme to murder King Duncan in their home, Lady Macbeth viciously states, “Was the hope drunk Wherein you dress'd yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? [...] And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would“ (Shakespeare 1.7 39-44). When Lady Macbeth calls her husband “green and pale” she is stating, in his condition, that he looks like he has the green sickness, which is another name for anemia. For centuries this disease was thought to be originated from young, virgin girls. Lady macbeth is challenging his masculinity by calling Macbeth a virgin girl. This was unfortunate because of this comment it resulted him committing to do her dirty work of killing Duncan. This was the destructive moment of his first major deed which untimely led to end of his life. This

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In act one scene 7, Macbeth doubts if he should kill the king; however, his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into proceeding. It might be difficult for Macbeth, the renowned warrior, to hear his wife accusing him of cowardice. Therefore, under Lady Macbeth’s influence, as she questions his manhood, he commences the murder in order to prove to her that he is not a “coward.” This is important to note because his soliloquy shows his determination to proceed.

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It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.

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Men were supposed to act as strong fighters, while women were locked in the domestic sphere. These gender roles are prominent in the character developments of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. At first, Macbeth is a strong, heroic solider that shows unbounded courage in battle and loyalty to his king. As the play progresses, he becomes cold, ruthless, and miserable. Lady Macbeth takes on a “manly” role, which is surprising because of how patriarchal the society is.

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In the beginning Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth was a ruthless and masculine woman. She showed the audience that, mentally and emotionally, she was stronger than Macbeth. Although as the story started to continue the audience began to see that she was becoming mentally insane. Throughout the story there was also evidence of shakespeare showing the more masculinity you had the more cuel you became.

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William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a

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There are some quotes in the play that really demonstrate how Lady Macbeth questioned Macbeth’s Manhood. There is a part where Lady Macbeth says In Act 1 scene 7 "When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." In this quote it demonstrates to us how Lady Macbeth questioned Macbeth’s Manhood in order to convince him to do things that would demonstrate that he actually is a “man” and according to Lady Macbeth doing what in this case was murdering King Duncan would make Macbeth much more than a man. In conclusion and in my opinion Manhood is one of the biggest factors in the play.

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“Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity.

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However, Lady Macbeth’s power depends on her husband’s, due to her disempowerment in the realm of the political. She believes her husband’s political power relies on him conforming to a more masculine identity. In order to convince Macbeth to undertake this transformation, like she did, Lady Macbeth must subvert the stereotypical role of a submissive wife and become domineering. This leads to her exercising power in the only form she can, that is, attacking Macbeth’s masculinity as she states: “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man.”

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